"He wasn't in the best shape," Elliott said of Chester, who is about 13 or 14 years old and has terminal cancer. "They bathed him and shaved away all of the matted, dirty hair. They found a very large tumor on his side and had it removed. Since then, they have shown up all over his body."

But for Elliott, it was love at first sight.

"I knew that it would be my responsibility to make his final days the best I could, to mine and his ability," she told WTVM. "I arrived before the shelter opened, and they let me in to get him. I fell in love the moment I saw him."